„Today’s decision is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho,“ Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in her dissent. „It is delay.“
Topline
Emergency abortions will be allowed under Idaho’s restrictive abortion law—but could still be outlawed in the future—as the Supreme Court threw out Thursday a challenge to the state’s abortion ban, sending the case back to the lower courts.Key Facts
Moyle v. U.S. was a lawsuit brought by the federal government against Idaho’s strict abortion ban, as the Biden administration argued hospitals in the state are required under federal law to provide abortions in emergency situations—including ones that aren’t life-threatening—even if the state bans abortion.
Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), hospitals that participate in Medicare must provide stabilizing emergency care when medically necessary, even in cases when a person might be uninsured or can’t pay.
The court ruled in an unsigned opinion to dismiss the case as “improvidently granted”—meaning they shouldn’t have taken it up in the first place—and got rid of a stay that allowed Idaho to continue refusing emergency abortions while the litigation played out.
The court’s ruling is in line with a draft opinion that was accidentally posted on the court’s site Wednesday, in which justices reportedly ruled 5-4 to dismiss the case.
